Oysters Too Strong For The Fish

Whitstable recorded their fourth consecutive win as they comfortably saw off bottom of the table Fisher with some great goals at the Belmont. Craig Thompson opened the scoring with an unstoppable header after 11 minutes and Charlie Smith curled a shot into the far corner ten minutes later. Dan Eason was called upon to make one good save, but had little else to trouble him as the home side largely controlled the first half. Darren Marsden added a third on 55 minutes with a good finish from distance. In the last ten minutes a cross from Ashley Brown was turned into his own goal by Mikel Thompson before some casual defending allowed Toyo Adeshina a late consolation for the visitors. Nick Treadwell had a great chance to make it five in stoppage time, but shot just wide.

Whitstable started with an unchanged team following the win at Erith Town and played some good, confident football in the early stages. Dane Luchford was the first to have an attempt on target from wide on the left, but it was caught by the Fisher goalkeeper Ricky Wadman. Whitstable took the lead as a deep cross from the right by Connor Hood was met perfectly by Thompson who had made good ground to get into the box and his header flew past a stranded Wadman. Just afterwards another Hood cross was glanced just wide by Kane Rowland. The visitors won the first corner of the match on the right and it was played back to the edge of the box, where Joel Mensah shot just wide. Whitstable were soon back on the attack and Smith did really well in the corner to make room to send over a dangerous cross, but Wadman managed to get down to save from Rowland. On 21 minutes though it was 2-0 as Hood threw the ball to Smith who cut in on the right edge of the penalty area and bent a left footed shot past Wadman into the far corner. Smith then had a go with his right foot, but the busy Wadman turned it past the post for a corner.

Just after the half hour mark, Trey Williams broke into the box and shot low across goal, but Eason made a good save. From the resulting corner the Fisher number six, Thompson, sent a free header wide. The game became a bit scrappy for a time before the interval. Smith did hit the post with a header, but the whistle had already blown for a foul and Alfie Roche was eventually booked for pulling back Rowland, having been spoken to for a couple of earlier offences by the referee who had a good game.

Kane Rowland watched closely by the assistant and supporters

Into the second half and Marsden had a couple of early chances, but Wadman got down to save the first and the second was just wide. Mensah had a shot deflected wide after some hesitant defending at the other end, but then Whitstable added a third goal. Rowland found Marsden on the right and as Wadman came out he chipped the ball over him and into the net from around 25 yards. Thompson flicked the ball on to set up Rowland, but he was denied by Wadman. Despite being three down, Fisher never gave up and possessed enough dangerous players to still be a threat. Adeshina playing down the right in the second half caused a few problems and he skipped past Harry Brown before shooting into the side netting. Marsden, Luchford and Thompson all had further efforts just off target for Whitstable and then substitute Aaron Quain almost scored as soon as he was introduced but Wadman saved. Harry Brown was caught in possession by Williams who ran through and cannoned a shot off the post on 73 minutes. The same player then curled another attempt just over.

Darren Marsden after chipping the third

Quain passed to Ashley Brown who went on a long run up the field and then delivered a great cross from near the left corner, which ended up in the net to make it 4-0. There was some debate about the scorer, as a defender and Rowland both tried to get a touch on the cross that might have curled straight in. After the game, having spoken to the match officials and reviewed the photos, an own goal was credited to Thompson, who appeared to have sliced the ball into his own net. Just a couple of minutes later Whitstable allowed their opponents a consolation goal as they failed to stop the ball being squared to an unmarked Adeshina who thumped it past Eason. The final piece of action came as Rowland and Marsden combined well to lay on a great opportunity for Treadwell, who had impressed since coming for the last twenty minutes, but his shot rolled past the far post.

The cross from Ashley Brown is sliced into his own net by Mikel Thompson

It was an entertaining match with some well taken goals and Whitstable have now scored 15 in their last 4 games, conceding just 2.

Dan Eason gathers safely as Batman keeps an eye on things from behind the goal

RT @ksnfootball This afternoon @KENTSPORTSNEWS will be out braving the cold to cover a number of games. Today's featured games are:
Gillingham v Walsall, Welling United v Eastbourne Borough
Cray Wanderers v VCD Athletic, Whitstable Town v Faversham, Chatham Town v Bearsted pic.twitter.com/M7yFlCS7Cd